Product label demand to soar

24th October 2011 - Fine Cut

Demand for product labels is set to soar in the coming years, making it a £69 billion industry by 2015, packagingeurope.com reports.

New research by Freedonia Group claims that with demand around the world set to rise 5.2 per cent each year, the total volume of labels created in 2015 alone would be 51.6 billion square metres, enough to cover one tenth of the entire world if laid end to end.

Of all the labelled produced, pressure sensitive labels look set to remain the most popular, as they continue to grow and take market share from glue-applied labels.

In 2010, 52 per cent of all labels manufactured and sold were pressure sensitive, a share that looks set to grow even further as brands move away from the traditional adhesive-glue design.

Elsewhere, stretch-sleeve, heat shrink and in-mould labels are also set to grow, though not at such a rate as the more established types, freedoniagroup.com claims.

Where specific regions are concerned, Asia and the Pacific countries look set to see the most take up, with their growing manufacturing base. Central and South America will also see something of a rise, as will Eastern Europe and Africa. China is by far and away the leader, however, accounting for 31 per cent of all global market volume gains in the years between 2010 and 2015.